Fire-escape



(No Model,)

G. M. HEATH.

' V FIRE ESCAPE. No 315,025. Patented Apr. 7, 1885.

UNITED STATES 4 PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE M. HEATH, OF ROGKINGHAM, VERMONT, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,TO SAID HEATH, AND JOSEPH JOSIAH BARNES AND LAURENTIUS F. BARNES, BOTHOF WESTMINSTER, VERMONT.

Fl RE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 315,025, dated April 7,1885.-

Application filed November 24, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE M. HEATH, of Rockingham, in the county ofWindham, of the State of Vermont, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Fire-Escapes; and I do hereby declare the same to bedescribed in the following specification and represented in theaccompanying drawings, of which Figure l is a perspective view of afireescape containing my invention, the nature of which is defined inthe claims hereinafter presented. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of itshand-holding clamping mechanism, and Fig. 3 is a similar section of itsfoot-supporting clamping mechanism, to be explained.

As a part of the fire-escape I have a wire, A, provided at one end witha duplex hook, B, for attaching it to a window-sill. This wire, like acommon measuring-tape, may have at its other end a box, O, within whichit may be coiled upon a shaft or drum, R, by a crank, D, appliedthereto. The wire goes through suitable guide holes or passages, a, intwo boxes, E and F, and at their lniddles, and between a pair of jawedlevers, G G, of the one box, and H H of the other, the longer arm ofeach lever projecting from the box. Each lever of the pair of levers ofeach box is fulcrumed to the box, and there extends from the shorter armof one lever a tooth, b, which enters a notch, c, in the shorter arm ofthe fellow lever. This tooth and notch are to cause each lever to bemoved simultaneously by and in correspondence with the other. Above eachpair-of levers there is fastened to their box a pair of springs, I 1,whose free ends bear against projections d from the levers, such springsbeing to move the levers so as to close their jaws e 6 upon the Wirerunning between them.

There is projected from each longer arm of the lower pair of jawedlevers a shoe or a foot-rest, K, provided with leather wings f f, havingbuckles g g g to one and straps h h h to the other, for securing thefoot of a person to the rest K, very much as a skate is generallyfastened to the foot of a skater.

In using the said fire-escape, a personis to apply its duplex hook tothe sill of a window of a building from which he may desire to descend.Having done this, with the wire depending from the window, he is toplace his feet upon and secure them to the rests of the lower pair of jawed levers, and, seizing the longer arms of the upper pair of suchlevers by his hand, he is to allow his weight to bear upon the lowerpair of jawed levers, so as to force their jaws into close contact withthe wire to an extent to prevent the levers from slipping down upon it.Next, with his hands hold of the upper pair of jawed levers, he is tomanipulate them so as to move their jaws away from the wire, whichhaving been accomplished he is to force the said levers and their 0llilel or box a suitable distance down upon the wire. Next, hanging uponthe said levers by his hands, he with his feet is to manipulate thelower set ofjawed levers so as to loosen their grasp of the wire andmove them and their'carrier or box downward on the wire a distanceequal, or about so, to that towhich the upper pair of levers has justpreviously been moved thereon. In this way, by continuing to so operate,he can descend intermittently on the wire.

With the apparatus a person can intermittently ascend or climb the wirewhen occasion may require.

I claim 1. The fire-escape,substantiall y as described, consisting ofthe wire, its duplex hook, the two boxes or carriers, and the two setsof j awed levers and their springs, the lower pair of said levers havingmeans of applying or fastening the feet of a person to their longerarms, so as to enable him to move said arms either upward or downward byhis feet. all being-essentially and to operate as andfor the purpose setforth.

2. The combination of the coiling-box and its drum, and the crank forrevolving the latter with the fire-escape, substantially as described,consisting of the wire,its duplex hook, the two boxes or carriers, andthe two pairs of jawed levers and their springs, the lower pair havingmeans of securing the feet of a person to their longer arms, so as toenable him to move them either upward or downward by his feet, all beingessentially as represented.

enonen M. IIEATH.

Witnesses:

ZIM M. ALLEN, GEO. A. BROWN.

